In 2nd stint with team, new coach wants Norwin hockey to push pace

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, October 19, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Familiarity will not be a problem for Denny Zeravica, the new hockey coach at Norwin.

He has been around the program for close to two decades, so he knows the key names and faces on and off the ice.

Back for a second stint as head coach of the Knights, Zeravica want to speed up the game.

“I’m a coach that likes to play fast, pressure the opposing team, while still playing fundamentally sound,” he said.

Zeravica replaces Mike Robinson, who resigned and is now an assistant on the Penn-Trafford staff. Zeravica was Robinson’s assistant for the past three years and they won a PIHL Penguins Cup together.

Zeravica, in his 27th year of coaching overall, has a laundry list of stops, from college hockey to youth levels.

He began coaching at Penn State West, a Division III program, in 1997 and, after he left there in 2006, became Norwin’s head coach from 2006-11.

He also was the head coach at Hempfield from 2012-19, so his perception of the PIHL is not completely from a Norwin point of view.

A coach in the Westmoreland Hockey Association for the past 13 years, Zeravica has worked with players at Norwin in the developmental, middle school and junior varsity levels.

When he isn’t coaching hockey, he is working as a district operations manager for Agiliti, a medical equipment company. He heads up districts in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Erie and Altoona.

Norwin moved up to Class 2A last season and finished 11-7, third in the standings. The Knights lost to Penn-Trafford in the semifinals, 6-3.

“What we learned was that there were no so-called ‘easy’ games,” Zeravica said of the move up in class. “The team had to be prepared and ready every game, and we were not going to just win just on having better talent. We also learned that you need depth at every position.”

Norwin has plenty of talent returning to make another postseason push. Zeravica thinks the Knights will be able to match skill and depth with opponents.

Key returnees include senior forward Dom Cerilli, the team captain; senior forwards Cade Zeravica, Joey Vecchio, Colin Czekaj and Mitch Soltysiak; defensemen in junior Parker Toth, sophomore Cal Costantino, senior Preston Stoner; and junior forward Zayn Zeravica.

Cade Zeravica and Vecchio are alternate captains.

“Our expectations are to improve all season long,” coach Zeravica said, “and put ourselves in a good position to win the division and secure a high seed for the playoffs.”

Backups and newcomers looking to impact the team include sophomore goaltender Connor Lovinfosse, junior defenseman Josh Toth, sophomore forward Mason Hohman, junior defenseman Zack Katona, senior forward Cody Barrett, senior defenseman Tyler Barrett and sophomore goalie Damien Flore.

Denny Zeravica expects Penn-Trafford, Armstrong and Fox Chapel to be potential frontrunners in the division.

“I think the division as a whole is going to be very competitive again,” he said.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Norwin